Iddat is established from The Holy Quran and the Hadith of Rasoolullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). We cite the relevant verses in this regard: In Surah Baqarah Almighty Allah states:"And those women who are divorced, should keep themselves in waiting for three periods."This verse establishes the iddat for a woman who is divorced, such iddat being a period of three haidh according to the hanafi mazh-hab. In another verse in Surah Baqarah, Allah Ta'ala says:"And those among you who expire and leave behind wives, they (the wives) shall keep themselves in waiting for four months and ten days."
**jazaak Allaho Khair. u made life easier for aisha and me. we were discussing the amount of time required for a woman to guard herself in seclusion. i said more or less the same thing...3 haiz periods or 4 months and 10 days whichever comes first...it depends onb when after the haiz a woman gets divorce or becomes a widow.
as ai said in my earlier post, the idea is to establish the paternity of the unborn child if she is pregnant. since islam is for all the time and all the places where modern medical tests are not available to establish a woman's pregnancy so this blanket ruling is great. but, in places and times we live in if a woman's pregnancy status is determined then there is no obvious reason to complete iddat period. correct?
i wunder if there has been any edict/fatwa in this regard after due ijtihaad?
is the 3 haiz periods for the women who have been divorced AND 4 months and 10 days for women who have been widowed??? is there two different rulings for two different sets of women?
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